BN's Win-Win vs PR's Work-Work

We have heard enough of win-win solutions by BN which invariably resulted in benefits to the party or leaders and cronies but the taxpayers ended up paying exorbitant prices or having to pick up the costs of repairs or remedial action for sub-standard products or services.

BN Members of Parliament and ADUNs are known for their high living and most become property developers and company directors of big companies because of their close relationships with the government hierarchy.

Ministers and Chief Ministers become super rich because of the numerous opportunities to enrich themselves. There is no need for prior experience as the private sector entrepreneurs are more than willing to offer schemes for participation on a win-win basis.

On the other hand, Chief Minister of Penang, Lim Guan Eng quipped that what he lacked was experience in corruption when asked about the lack of experience in managing a state government. If not for security and state protocol or other reasons, I believe he would not mind living in a room in his father’s house.

DAP MPs and ADUNs are known for their hard work, frugal means and anti-corruption stance. A good example is Teresa Kok and she had put it well in her blog, amid accusations of her being ... greedy (?):

You have been criticised for contesting and winning both the Seputeh parliament and Kinrara state seat. You are also currently being seen as taking on too many posts and earning a substantial sum in allowances. What is your response?

You must understand why in the March elections I walked the extra mile to contest in a state seat. Nobody expected us to be in the government, to be honest. So when things happen in that way, then you have to look at the DAP line-up in the state assembly. You have to look at their background and you know there are so many new faces in politics.

The more qualified ones are in Parliament and I am one of the more senior politicians who is now a state rep. The choice (open to) the party to nominate exco members is in a way limited. You have to recognise this fact first. I read Malaysiakini and Dr Kua (Kia Soong)’s comments and felt it was very unfair to me and my colleagues.

Going back to why I contested in Kinrara - the seat was seen as difficult to win by DAP Selangor. There was no strong leader or candidate who wanted to contest in that seat.

So I was asked to use my reputation and my identity as a woman candidate to try to capture a state seat and strengthen the opposition force in the Selangor assembly. That was the intention. That made me walk the extra mile, spend extra money, hire extra people to help win that seat.

When we won, the party had to choose who would become state exco members. Look at the background of the four who were nominated - Teng Chang Khim, Ronnie Liu, Ean Yong Hian Wah and me - three of us are the more senior ones.
Now it came back to whether I should take the challenge or not. I’ve been in Parliament for two terms, I’m more senior in politics. I’m wearing two hats only - as state exco and MP. What I can do now is to work harder.

I need to work harder, spend more money and hire more assistants. Do you know how much is needed to maintain this office? I hire three staff-members. It costs me RM10,000 per month. My rental is RM1,000 plus, telephone bill RM1,000 plus, electricity comes up to RM600-700, and my three staff are paid RM2,000 plus.

The Kinrara side has three full-time staff now. With all these expenses you can imagine how much I spend in maintaining my service centres. When people say that I earn more it’s very unfair.

I am hoping that the opposition-run states are able to show excellent examples of good governance and transparency in state administration, which would benefit the nation in the long run. It would encourage more professional politicians instead of the usual self-serving ones. Only the genuine hard-working ones need apply.